Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry
Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today
is Akbar Ganji who is Iran's most prominent political dissident. He is
a man of ideas and a man of action, a writer and a journalist. His articles
have been collected in books such as The Dungeon of Ghosts and The
Red Eminence, The Grey Eminences, which expose the leadership of Iran's
involvement in a series of killings of writers and dissidents. His subsequent
imprisonment for this courageous exercise of freedom of the press led to
torture. From his jail cell he has written A Republican Manifesto, laying
out the basis for a full-fledged democracy in Iran. His extraordinary,
courageous efforts won him international recognition, and he is a winner
of the 2006 World Association of Newspapers prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom
Award. We are joined in the studio by Arash Aramesh of UC Berkeley, who
will interpret.

The Nature of Revolutions ... early
membership in the Revolutionary Guards ... the anti-democratic nature of
revolutions ... reign of fear ... closure of options produced revolutions
... the French Revolution as a bad model ... why the American Revolution
was different

Religion and the State ... ancient
religions vs. modern concepts of rights ... separation of institutions of
church and state ... abuse of religion by the powerful... foreign
policy decisions... nuclear weapons: moral
and legal vs. political realities ... Western hypocrisy: the case of Libya
... the need for transparent and public negotiations

Being an Iranian Journalist ...
from Revolutionary Guard to the Ministry of Culture ... philosophy ... investigating
political murders ... writing about fascism ... social science and fluid
outcomes ... imprisonment and survival

The Nature of Fascism ... one voice
... culture reduced to propaganda ... the hope of the telecommunications
revolution ... globalization and the weakening of nation states ... the
force of the market economy

Striving for Democracy ...
military aggression weakens democractic forces ... injustice in the Middle
East ... growth of fundamentalism ... negotiating with the West ... women's
rights ... how to advance democracy in the Middle East ... supporting Iranian
democratic movements ... advice for students